Two Lonely Monsters (Marauders fanfic) Book 2

21- No Light In The Darkness

As Harry's first birthday was quickly approaching, Sara was struggling to continue doing such mundane things, like buying a birthday present, while there was so much going wrong in the world.
Sirius had told her that he'd bought Harry a child's broomstick, that rose a few inches above the ground.
Deciding to stick with the Quidditch theme, Sara ended up buying Harry a toy Snitch. The toys were much slower than the ones used in real matches, and couldn't fly as far away from their owners.
She had just finished wrapping the gift, in preperation for Harry's birthday in a week's time, when Remus suddenly Apparated right beside her.

Sara jumped to her feet, and took a few steps back from Remus. But before she had a chance to ask him why he had Apparated inside their house, instead of outside, he began to talk.
"It's Marlene McKinnon. The Dark Mark's been spotted above her house" he revealed.
Sara's jaw dropped, and she quickly Dissapparated on the spot, not wanting to waste any more time talking.
She arrived on the pavement opposite Marlene's house, and Remus joined her a few seconds later.
Sara raised her wand, as she looked up at the hideous green Dark Mark, hovering above her friend's home.
She stepped forward to approach the building, but Remus placed his arm in front of her, stopping her from getting any closer.

"You can't go inside. It's not safe. The Death Eaters might still be in there" he warned.
Sara frowned and shoved Remus's arm out of the way.
"I don't care. I need to get in there. I will not be a bystander any longer" she shouted.
"But it's not-"
"I don't care if it's not safe! She's my friend. And she needs me".
Remus's next reply was cut off by the sound of footsteps, coming out of Marlene's house. Sara tensed her body, preparing for a fight, but she lowered her wand and relaxed, when she noticed the Ministry uniform, that the men exiting the house were all wearing.
A small crowd had developed around the house, and Sara had to push passed them, to get a better look at the Auror's leaving the house.

Sara's face turned white, as she looked at the faces of the pale bodies, that were being carried out of the house, on stretchers.
She stared at the cold, unmoving body, of one of her best friends, and she began to cry and scream.
Remus tried to comfort her, by placing his arms around her, by she shook him off, and tried to get closer to Marlene.
"No- She- It can't be. She's not- She's not dead" stuttered Sara.
"Please stand back Miss" instructed one of the Aurors.
Sara ignored him, and continued looking at her friend, praying that she was just playing a joke on her, and would jump up from the stretcher any second, to scare her.
But Marlene's eyes never blinked, and her body didn't move. Confirming that she was dead.

"Don't make me ask you again Miss. Please move out of the way" ordered the male Auror.
Sara blinked at him, as if suddenly realising that he was there.
Remus placed his arm around Sara's waist, and tried to guide her away from the stretchers, that were carrying the bodies, of all of Marlene's family.
"They- They killed her. They killed them all.
I hate them!" Screamed Sara.
"I know. Shh, it's going to be alright" soothed Remus.
Sara escaped Remus's cluthed once again, and fell to her knees, pressing her palms into to hard concrete, as she thought about her memories of her friend, and sobbed.

"Sara! SARA!".
Sara tilted her head up, and saw Sirius running towards her.
"Oh thank Merlin. I saw you on the floor, and I thought- Well I thought you'd been hurt" he continued.
Sirius looked over his shoulder, at the Aurors, who were beginning to Dissapparate, with the stretchers.
"What's happened? Is it Marlene? Is she hurt? Is she-" Sirius faltered as he looked between the stretchers, and the tears in Sara's eyes.
"No... Not Marlene" that was all Sirius was able to whisper.
"We need to get Sara back home. Sirius... Sirius!" Shouted Remus.

Sirius shook his head, snapping himself back into the present, before placing his arm through one of Sara's, while Remus held the other. Together the two of them lifted Sara off the floor, and transported her back to the bungalow.
Once they were safely inside, they sat down on of one of the sofa's, an eerie silence filling the room.
No one spoke, as they couldn't think of anything to say. The only sound that could be heard, was the sound of Sara, crying for her best friend.
Even Sirius couldn't think of anything positive to say. Him and Marlene had dated on and off, while they were at Hogwarts, and her death seemed to really shock him.

After several minutes of silence, Sara stopped crying, and sat up straight.
"Someone needs to tell the others" she muttered.
No one said anything, so she continued talking, to fill the uncomfortable silence.
"The others need to know. Doe, Alice, Mary, Lily. We all shared a room with Marlene, for 7 years. Someone needs to tell them what has happened. And the rest of the Marauders need to know".
"I'll do it" mumbled Sirius, who seemed to jump at the chance to do something, as he couldn't bare sitting in silence any longer.
Without saying another word, he walked out the front door, and Dissapparated a few seconds later.

Once Sirius had left, Sara laid back into Remus's arms, and allowed him to comfort her.
"Why is this happening to us?" She asked quietly.
"I don't know" admitted Remus.
"We haven't done anything wrong...
In story books, it's always the bad guys who get killed. Not the good guys...
All we are trying to do, is stop Voldemort and the Death Eaters, to make the world a better place...
Why is it so hard, to do the right thing?"
"In the end, we all have to make a choice between what is right, and what is easy"
"How very philophiscal of you"
"It's just something I've heard Dumbledore say before"
"Well, he is usually right about most things"
"Yes, he is a very wise man".

"It's just a shame that we don't have more people like Dumbledore on our side. He is the only person Voldemort is afraid of, and if we had a few more like him, then this war would have been over, ages ago...
There are so few of us in the Order. Especially now...
They're picking us off one by one, and there's nothing we can do to stop them. I hate just waiting around. Waiting to find out who is going to be their next victim...
I just wish there was something we could do" admitted Sara.
"Well there isn't. So I guess we are just going to have to wait for Dumbledore, to find out who the traitor is, in the Order" replied Remus.
"So you agree with me now? You think someone has been betraying us?".

"After everything that has happened, yes, I do. This isn't just luck. The Death Eaters know where we are, and what we are up too. Someone in the Order, has been telling them our secrets. I just hope Dumbledore finds out who it is, soon... Or there won't be any of us left" admitted Remus.
"We just have to pray that the traitor doesn't tell them where James, Lily and Harry are. Or us for that matter" Sara replied.
"Well now that Sirius is the Secret Keeper for them, they are safe. Unless he willingly gives up the name of the place where they live"
"I can't see that ever happening"
"Neither can I. Which means that for now at least, they are safe".